23. Countries and Nationalities

24. To / In and From

Remember to use the prepositional contractions when a noun with an article follows the preposition.

25. To Come and to Go

26. Common Words

Verbs in Spanish end in -ar, -er or -ir.  Before a verb is conjugated, it is called the infinitive.  Removing the last two letters gives you the stem of the verb (cantar is to sing, cant- is the stem.)  To conjugate regular verbs in the present tense, add these endings to the stems:

Remember that verbs do not require the subject pronouns, so just canto means I sing.  Here are some more regular verbs:

To make sentences negative, simply put no in front of the verb.

28. Reflexive Verbs

The subject and the object are the same with reflexive verbs - the subject acts upon itself.  A reflexive verb in Spanish will be marked with se attached to the end of the infinitive.  These verbs are conjugated like regular verbs, except the reflexive pronoun agrees with case and gender and precedes the verb when not used in the infinitive form.  Reciprocal verbs are the same as reflexive except the action passes from one person to another.  It can only be used in the first and third person plural forms.  Reflexive verbs sometimes use the "-self" forms in English, while the reciprocal verbs use "each other."

Some common reflexive verbs:

acostarse - to go to bed
bañarse - to bathe oneself
casarse - to get married
despertarse - to wake up
irse - to go away
levantarse - to rise
sentarse - to sit down
vestirse - to dress oneself
atreverse - to dare
quejarse - to complain

Some verbs have vowel changes in the present tense for all forms except first and second person plural.  After dropping the endings (-ar, -er, or -ir), the e of the last syllable changes to ie, and o of the last syllable changes to ue.  Some -ir verbs change the e to i, while verbs ending in -uir change the i to y for all forms except first and second plural.

When the direct object of a verb (except tener) is a person, it is preceded by a.  It isn't used if a number precedes the object though.  The pronouns alguien (somebody), alguno (someone), nadie (nobody), and ninguno (no one) require a as well, when used as the direct object.

Veo a Juan.  I see John.
Conozco a tu amiga. I know your friend.
Veo a alguien.  I see somebody.

The preterite tense expresses an action in the past.  It is used to describe events that are finished or complete.  It is formed by adding these endings to the infinitive stem.

Viví en España dos años.  I lived in Spain for two years.
Ellos hablaron con los niños.  They spoke with the children.
Quién comió la fruta?  Who ate the fruit?

32. Irregular Preterite Tense

A few verbs are irregular in the preterite tense.  The following are the most common:

The imperfect is another past tense that is used to express an action as going on in the past, as repeated or habitual.  It is also used with mental and physical conditions and for descriptions.  The preterite tense is used much more often than the imperfect tense though, except with these verbs:  querer, creer, poder, esperar, tener, and saber.  It is formed by adding these endings to the infinitive stem.

Yo vivía en España.  I used to live in Spain.
Luisa estaba triste.  Louise was sad.
El vendía radios.  He was selling radios.

Only a few verbs are irregular in the imperfect tense:

34. Food and Meals

Gustar plus a noun means to like something.  Literally, it means to please and takes an indirect object, so the construction of the sentence will be different than that of English. The verb will only be conjugated in the third person singular or plural because it is agreeing with the noun or infinitive that follows it, not the subject.

Gusta is used with singular nouns or an infinitive, while gustan is used with plural nouns. It is also possible to add a + complement pronoun to emphasize the subject, but this is not necessary. The complement pronouns are the same as the suject pronouns except a mí and a ti.

Me gustan las flores.  I like the flowers.  (Literally: To me are pleasing the flowers or the flowers are pleasing to me.)
A nosotros nos gusta la casa.  We like the house.
No me gusta.  I don't like it.
Le gusta a Ud.?  Do you like it?
A ellos les gustan los caballos. They like the horses.

36. Fruits, Vegetables and Meats

Note: Los frijoles is used in South America, whereas las judías is used in Spain.

37. To Take or Drink

When tomar means to drink, it usually refers to alcohol. In Mexico, tomar can be intransitive, as beber is almost never used. In Spain, tomar is always transitive, such as tomar una copa- to have a drink and tomar un café - to have a coffee.

To form commands, drop the final -s on the present tense conjugation for the tú form and change the final -r of the infinitive to -d for the vosotros form.  The other imperative conjugations (for Usted, Ustedes, and nosotros) use the present subjunctive forms. (More about the Subjunctive at #70.) You use the nosotros form when you mean Let's + infinitive. Negative commands use no + the present subjunctive conjugations for all forms. So the only forms that differ between affirmative and negative commands are tú and vosotros. Verbs that end in -car, -gar and -zar have the following changes in commands as well:  c becomes qu, g becomes gu, and z becomes c.

Habla!  = Speak!  (tú form)
Comed! = Eat!  (vosotros form)
No comáis! = Don't eat!  (negative vosotros form)
Beba! = Drink!  (Usted form)
Coman! = Eat (Ustedes form)
No beban! = Don't drink! (negative Ustedes form)

There are 8 irregular verbs in the imperative, but they are only irregular for the tú form. The rest of the commands follow the pattern above.

There are several irregular stems that appear in the present subjunctive, and therefore in the imperative.

39. More Negatives

To make sentences negative, you place no before the verb.  Other negatives may precede or follow the verb, but if they follow, they must follow a negative verb (a double negative).  The word order is either no + verb + negative or negative + verb. Nunca means ever when it follows a comparative; jamás means ever when it follows an affirmative verb. Ya no + verb means the same thing as no + verb + más (no more, no longer).

No bailas nunca. = Nunca bailas. You never dance.
No juego más. = Ya no juego. I no longer play.

40. Holiday Phrases

Spanish National Anthem: Marcha Real

There are no words to the Spanish national anthem; it is completely instrumental.

Mexican National Anthem: Mexicanos, al Grito de Guerra

by Francisco González Bocanegra